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eternal perspective

Let us consider another inconsistency, but let me first warn the reader that it may cause some real heart searching, especially if you have children.

The scene is the same just about every week. Families struggle to get up on Sunday morning. Many have not bothered to prepare their hearts throughout the previous week, and especially the Saturday night before. This quickly becomes obvious as the rest of the morning progresses.

Breakfast is rushed and the parents are shouting at the kids to “Hurry or we will be late to church.” With a final flurry of activity, everybody runs out and jumps in the appropriate vehicle. On the way, the driver is pushing past the speed limit and hoping that a policeman is not sitting over the next hill with a radar gun. In the back, the children begin to bicker and then fight. The parents both threaten to stop the car to take care of the problem that does little to straighten out the children. The little ones are mostly immune to the threats because they have already figured out long ago that the parents don’t really mean what they say.

Every now and then, a word of wisdom may grace the conversation. One of the parents will remind their offspring that “we all need to settle down as we are going to worship the Lord.”

Arriving at their chosen place of worship a few minutes late, the parents send their children off to a little classroom. In the room, they only manage to get through 45 minutes due to the seemingly endless supply of snacks and juice. During the class, they may receive a pithy little lesson which may come complete with puppets and pages to color.

The sermon this morning was on Philippians 1:21: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” As I listened to the message, I wondered how many Christians truly think about that. So many go through life just existing, getting through life because they have to, so they miss the eternal purpose that God created them for. The fact is that God allowed everyone on earth to be born for a purpose. Sadly, few really fulfill that purpose.

Although it’s necessary to work to pay our bills, there is a reason God has you at your job. Your family may be hard to get along with but there is a purpose for you being a part of that family. Nothing happens by accident. Maybe the purpose is simply so that God can draw you closer to Himself. Maybe it is so that you can be a Light to people who need some hope. Whatever the reason, it is not a small thing.

If you’ve read my writings for any length of time, you know that I struggle … more than I should really. God has been so good to me and has made it very clear that He plans to use me, but it’s easy to lose sight of that. How it must grieve Him, though. It is such an honor to be called by the Almighty God, who can change a life or a situation with just a word and yet, often, He chooses to use an imperfect human and entrust us with tasks that He could better do Himself.

Maybe you are struggling to figure out what your purpose is. Let me just encourage you that you have one. I can’t tell you why God hasn’t revealed it to you but I will tell you that, if you stay close to Him, willing to surrender everything that He asks of you, He will direct you if you listen. The second step to that is being willing to obey. Sometimes I think we are convinced God isn’t speaking when the truth is that we don’t like what He is saying and so we stop our ears and convince ourselves that the voice we’re hearing can’t be God. I agree that it’s important to know that you are hearing God’s voice before you step out to do the impossible but, if you aren’t willing to step out in faith when He asks you to, you will miss so much that God has for you.

I hope you will take some time today to examine your life and ask yourself: Are you living or just existing? Are you walking through life full of joy, knowing that your Father walks with you, or are you barely getting through each day, living for the weekend when you can unplug from your daily tasks?

Ask God to fill your heart with more of Him so that it is no longer you that lives but Christ who lives in you. As you open your heart to Him, you will begin to see through His eyes and will find that satisfaction that your heart longs for.